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PeerSpot user
Cloud Professional Architect at FPT Software
Real User
It's straightforward to scale and configure virtual machines
Pros and Cons
  • "The fact that vSphere is an on-premise solution is beneficial for the user. It's easier to manage the infrastructure. It's more straightforward to scale and configure virtual machines."
  • "VMware vSphere is perfect for the on-premise solution, but we are in the cloud era, so I think maybe VMware needs to invest more in the cloud and the microservice chain. It would be better if VMware offered more cloud solutions and continuous applications."

What is our primary use case?

We need virtualization for our company, or sometimes our customers leverage virtualization solutions instead of using physical machines.

What is most valuable?

The fact that vSphere is an on-premise solution is beneficial for the user. It's easier to manage the infrastructure. It's more straightforward to scale and configure virtual machines. 

What needs improvement?

VMware vSphere is perfect for the on-premise solution, but we are in the cloud era, so I think maybe VMware needs to invest more in the cloud and the microservice chain. It would be better if VMware offered more cloud solutions and continuous applications.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In terms of scalability and stability, vSphere is excellent. We lack volume when we need to bundle a considerable number of physical machines to facilitate virtualization. There are a lot of competitors like Nutanix or others, but VMware is the number one solution for me.

Buyer's Guide
VMware vSphere
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about VMware vSphere. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
816,562 professionals have used our research since 2012.

How are customer service and support?

We don't contact VMware support often, but I sometimes have trouble understanding their manuals, so I ask them for help.

How was the initial setup?

It's easier for the user to deploy vSphere or the vCenter, but it's complex when setting up network virtualization.

What was our ROI?

I think VMware is a good investment. We use VMware to maintain our internal system. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate VMware vSphere seven out of 10. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1126809 - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
Real User
Higher availability with excellent technical support and great stability
Pros and Cons
  • "Technical support is helpful and always available."
  • "If they improve on the knowledge base and documentation, it would be extremely helpful."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for the virtualization of the environment. We've converted more than 90% of our environment from physical to virtual.

What is most valuable?

The higher availability and the vMotion, I would say, are what makes it very interesting as you avoid systems being down. It provides, if you cluster, high availability, and your services can move from system to system to avoid downtime.

The solution is stable.

The scalability is great.

Technical support is helpful and always available. 

What needs improvement?

There are certain issues that can be improved. No solution is perfect, even though it's working for most of us most of the time. There are certain issues that crop up and some of them are not due to VMware. It could be due to the hardware it is running on. Therefore, it would be ideal if they could provide more knowledge on the fault tolerance and the high availability as some things are just assumed and then users find later that the use cases are different. Sometimes you may assume something applies to a use case only to find that it doesn't. If they improve on the knowledge base and documentation, it would be extremely helpful.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution since 2012. It's been a while. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of the product is good. I haven't dealt with bugs or glitches. It's reliable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product is scalable. You can increase the number of servers. You can increase the number of computer resources, storage, CPU, memory. It's up to you how huge you want your clusters to be.

This is an enterprise solution. It is not used by users. It is an enterprise technology solution. Therefore, we won't be adding more users. 

Almost all the engineers in the organization are using the solution. I would say maybe 15 engineers are actively using it. 

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is always there. They're always available. When you have an issue, you just log a call with them and set up a service request. They assist you directly. An engineer will be assigned to assist.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We have other tools, such as Oracle VM, which we are using in other areas, however, VMware is used more than the Oracle VM.

How was the initial setup?

For the initial setup, you need to do design work with someone who understands VMware, who is actually certified by VMware. You need someone certified to do it.

Deployment is not a problem. As long as you take time doing your design, the deployment will not take long. You can do it within a week.

If you have one certified engineer, the implementation will go fine. 

In terms of the management of the solution, we have about four engineers who are looking after it.

What about the implementation team?

You cannot do it by yourself. You need a certified engineer. That's a requirement from VMware and it's so that the environment is stable to avoid unnecessary scraping.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

You do need a license. Most of these vendors also offer what they call the free version of the software. If you want more support, more features, you have to go for the paid versions. That said, you can still get the free or community version of it.

What other advice do I have?

I'd recommend the solution to other users. It's a good technology. They're pioneers in the industry.

I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
VMware vSphere
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about VMware vSphere. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
816,562 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer1681332 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Operations Support at a energy/utilities company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Stable, simple to scale, simple to operate, and has helpful support
Pros and Cons
  • "The virtualization this solution offer is very complete for the infrastructure."
  • "The support for the latest version could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We use VMware vSphere on our main computer systems and we are using the Center Configuration Manager from VMware for the solution as well as vCenter for replication.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the tech manager from the utilization.

The virtualization this solution offers is very complete for the infrastructure. It meets our requirements and our needs.

It is very easy to operate.

What needs improvement?

The support for the latest version could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with VMware vSphere for ten years.

We began with version 4.0 and are now working with the most recent version.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

VMware vSphere is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

VMware vSphere is a scalable product.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support from VMware is very comprehensive and helpful.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We use several solutions such as Microsoft Azure, Oracle, and we use VMware for our infrastructure.

We also have another solution for disaster recovery.

We used Microsoft Azure for testing with the model phone credit. It was for testing only.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

In my opinion, the price is not cheap, nor it is expensive. It's average.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Currently, we are starting on study for implementing the software design network, and I am evaluating options because I want to know the latest information about the products.

We are also evaluating NSX to implement it in the future.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate VMware vSphere a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1406361 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Infrastructure Specialist at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
A cloud computing virtualization platform that's pretty stable
Pros and Cons
  • "It's a very useful solution. It's easy to set up, and it's pretty stable."
  • "It could be more scalable."

What is our primary use case?

We use VMware vSphere for virtualization, especially server virtualization.

What is most valuable?

It's a very useful solution. It's easy to set up, and it's pretty stable.

What needs improvement?

It could be more scalable. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using VMware vSphere for about ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

VMware vSphere is pretty stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

VMware vSphere can be scalable. We can scale it as much as we want, but it could be more scalable. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is pretty good. It took us about an hour to implement this solution.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented VMware vSphere. We need about two people to set up and maintain this solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We pay for our license. 

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to new users.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give VMware vSphere a ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Head of System Architecture Department at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Very intuitive with a high level of performance and good technical support
Pros and Cons
  • "Technical support is very good. They are very helpful."
  • "There are occasionally bugs or errors."

What is our primary use case?

The solution is typically used in different ways. For example, for different servers, we use a different version on the same physical servers. It's for consolidation on one hardware server. It's also used for redundancy, for fail order, for high availability, for the assistance of the system et cetera. It can also be used for a virtual classroom.

What is most valuable?

The solution has a high availability of features. 

They are very distributed and easy to use. 

The virtual card features are very good.

The REST is excellent.

Technical support is very good. They are very helpful.

The solution has been very intuitive. 

The product offers a very high level of performance.

You can scale the solution well.

What needs improvement?

I can't think of any particular features that are missing within the solution. It's quite complete.

There are occasionally bugs or errors.

Some customers are of the opinion that the pricing is too expensive for them.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been working with the solution for the last 12 months or so.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is pretty good. In my experience, I see many different bugs or mistakes or errors in the different versions of VMware vSphere, however, they have a great software team. When you have some issues, you always get help from someone very quickly.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is very good on the product. It's pretty simple to scale up or down.

We have about 4,000 users that interact with it within the company.

We do plan to increase usage in the future if we need to.

How are customer service and technical support?

The solution offers a very good level of technical support. We've always been able to get help when we've had issues. We're satisfied with the level of service they provide.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I've used Zen servers four or five years ago. I've also used Oracle VM in the past with a client.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very straightforward. It's not complex at all. If a company needs to set up the solution, they shouldn't have an issue doing so.

The plan for deployment matters. You should use a basic method of installation from a USB or some other hard drive or directly. It takes about 15 or 20 minutes. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The cost varies from customer to customer. VMware offers various price policies, and therefore I'm unsure of how it differs from client to client.

What other advice do I have?

We are a big IT integration company and we do around 80 projects for different customers in my country. We are a partner with VMware. We're one of their software vendors.

We use multiple versions of the solution.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

Overall, we've been very satisfied with the solution and its capabilities.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1362096 - PeerSpot reviewer
Pré-vendas at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
Real User
Benchmark of the visualization market and the go-to choice for about every customer that we deal with.
Pros and Cons
  • "Vmware vSphere is the benchmark of the visualization market."
  • "It would be useful to have features like micro-segmentation, changing the mix as well as part of vSphere"

What is our primary use case?

Most use cases are here in Brazil. The company is moving to vSphere after exchanging from a legacy platform. Most of our clients have not previously considered digitalization. Now, they look up KVM solutions for DevOps, the Zain app, and Zain desktops for desktop visualization. For some clients, these alternatives may seem more enticing. We did a vSphere implementation for a customer in the last 12 months. I think it was version 6.5.3. We used it for a retail company. We also cater to small to medium-sized companies in the US market. I estimate about a hundred people use vSphere.

How has it helped my organization?

Visualizing infrastructure is a very important aspect of what we do. VMware vSphere is the benchmark of the visualization market. It's the go-to choice for about every customer that we deal with.

What is most valuable?

As we are a service partner, I think the most valuable feature vSphere has is the ability to visualize infrastructure. Other similar software does not have this capability.

What needs improvement?

The visualization market is likely going to adopt more features in the network aspect of the typical data center. It would be useful to have features like micro-segmentation, changing the mix as well as part of vSphere. This is not currently provided and to achieve this, you need the VMware NSX product, which is a different product with its own license. I think some sort of migration tool could be introduced to migrate to the cloud. It should include integrations with a hooked cloud environment, or on-prem and even between clusters. For example, sometimes I need to migrate a VM from a vSphere environment to a hooked cloud environment.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have worked with vSphere for some years. My company has had a contract with Lenovo for about a year and a half. I am an IT professional. I work with VMware vSphere for our customers.

We are a value-added distributor for some partners like Lenovo. We re-sell vSphere as an end product. We are VMware partners.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

vSphere is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is very scalable as it is the visualization benchmark.

How are customer service and technical support?

I don't remember engaging technical support for vSphere. I have not required support thus far for the product. The documentation is very good.

How was the initial setup?

I had some issues with this installation, but not from the vSphere angle. We have to watch compatibility measures between the hardware we are using and other software. It's not a problem with vSphere itself. It's the basic compatibility that we must follow.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The license growth of vSphere depends on the growth of the visual environment and the addition of more hosts.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Although vSphere is still a very useful option for visualization, some clients are trying alternative DevOps solutions for less critical sites. However, they use vSphere as an option for visualization in production.

What other advice do I have?

Just follow the documentation. It's very useful and informative. Before you implement, check the licensing, to see if the license is okay and the compatibility metrics are okay. I would rate VMware vSphere 9 out of 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Systems Security Administrator at Twin River Casino
Real User
Dynamic deployment of new servers is critical

What is our primary use case?

Standard commercial environment.

How has it helped my organization?

A gold standard of server virtualization.

What is most valuable?

  • vMotion
  • NSX
  • Dynamic deployment of new servers is critical.

What needs improvement?

Improvements to the vCenter server appliance are still needed, especially the HTML5.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Azure Infrastructure Architect at Wireless Car
Real User
Top 10
It is a fast, responsive solution that is easy to use
Pros and Cons
  • "It has high clustering and availability features. These features are not found with other hypervisors."
  • "I would like to see VMware head towards a more GPU friendly environment."

What is our primary use case?

I primarily use vSphere for management. It is very fast, responsive, and easy to use.

What is most valuable?

It has high clustering and availability features. These features are not found with other hypervisors.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see VMware head towards a more GPU friendly environment. 

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is high. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I also have experience with Citrix ESXi.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

The other options that we considered were Cisco, Dell EMC, and Nutanix. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free VMware vSphere Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: October 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free VMware vSphere Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.